Blog – Slo County Farmers’ Marketshttp://slocountyfarmers.org
San Luis Obispo CountyFri, 09 Dec 2016 16:30:47 +0000en-UShourly1Persimmons: Don’t Judge a Fruit By Its Coverhttp://slocountyfarmers.org/persimmons-dont-judge-a-fruit-by-its-cover/
Mon, 05 Dec 2016 22:21:41 +0000http://slocountyfarmers.org/?p=21763There’s an odd rule of thumb when it comes to the persimmon: When you think it looks like garbage — that’s when you want to eat it.

Which, of course, goes against our usual thinking when it comes to fruits. If a banana turns black or an apple looks bruised, you pitch ’em in the trash like the leftover meatloaf you caught your cat licking. But, throughout history, persimmons have been famous for their ripeness (or lack of), leading to colorful colonial quotes such as, “They are not good until they be rotten,” “If it be not ripe it will drawe a mans mouth awrie, with much torment,” and — last but not least — “When they are not fully ripe, they are harsh and choakie, and furre a man’s mouth like allam.”

While you’re looking up “furre” and “allam,” (and good luck to you), we should also note that the persimmon is often associated with the holidays. While you might think that’s because they look like Christmas tree ornaments, it probably has more to do with the fact that it is also the tree crop most associated with chilly winter temperatures. (Persimmons can hang on to their twigs until as late as January.)

The size of an apple, it’s a sweet, versatile little fruit, which can be used in breads, puddings, cookies, ice cream, candy, pies and even beers. And, of course, you can eat them “as is,” though you might have to get over the visual aspect. Because when they look pretty, they might taste like chalk — or whatever allam is. And when they don’t, well, beauty is in the eye — er, uh, taste buds — of the beholder.

A good persimmon might be wrinkled with brown spots. It will be soft and mushy.

A little like garbage. Except the kind of garbage you’ll want to sink your teeth into — assuming the cat didn’t lick it.

While you chew on that, here’s a recipe for persimmon cookies, provided by Food.com.

It takes forever to thaw, you have to cook it just right and – let’s face it – it’s kind of slimy and gross. (Giblets, anyone?)

But you’re not bound to convention. In fact, there are several meat-oriented Thanksgiving dinner options out there. And, of course, turkey is not the only bird in town.

Chicken makes for a fine Thanksgiving option for several reasons. First of all, you can buy a full bird, which is sort of like the turkey concept but with less stress in the kitchen. Also, all of your typical turkey sides go perfectly with chicken.

When someone is boiling it, you definitely know it. Which is part of why cabbage has a bit of an image problem. Blame the rest on Hollywood.

Remember “Willy Wonka & and the Chocolate Factory?” In the memorable early scenes, cabbage is seen as a drab, flavorless food, which the Bucket family has to eat every day because they can’t afford anything else.

Charlie chimes in as well, more frustrated: “I’m fed up with cabbage water,” he says. “It’s not enough!”

So, yeah – cabbage occasionally gets a bad rap.

But in reality, cabbage is not only good for you, it’s also quite good.

But first – let’s address the smell:

That pungent odor is caused by sulfur compounds found in the cabbage. When boiled or simmered for an extended period, sulfur compounds in the cabbage are converted into pungent molecules that leave your house smelling like dirty socks.

But fear not – you can have cabbage and a house that doesn’t smell like cabbage. As this story notes, you can avoid Cabbage Smell by quick cooking, steaming and simmering with apple juice.

Cabbage is pretty versatile. It can be cooked with onions in a bath of butter. Stir fried with ginger and apples for a side dish to roast fish, chicken and pork. Sauteed to fillings for pastries, potpies and shepherd’s pie.

And, you know what? Don’t let Willy Wonka turn you off the soup idea — as long as it’s not just “cabbage water.” If you add cooked cabbage to minestrone, bean or vegetable soup right before serving, it makes for a tasty addition that even Charlie Bucket would appreciate.

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Cabbage is officially in season! Check out your local farmers’ market for the freshest cabbage available.

]]>Why garlic saves your neck (from vampires)http://slocountyfarmers.org/why-garlic-saves-your-neck-from-vampires/
Wed, 05 Oct 2016 18:31:10 +0000http://slocountyfarmers.org/?p=21674Oh, great. A Realtor is showing the house next door to a vampire – and the old ghoul looks interested.

There’s goes the neighborhood.

After you rule out relocation (All that unpacking just sucks the life out of you!), you drive yourself batty trying to figure out ways to ward off your potential new neighbor:

“I vant to suck your bl– is that GARLIC?”

Twenty-four hours of daylight is impractical — and terrible for your insomnia. Dousing Drac with holy water contradicts your pledge to conserve water during a drought. And staking someone through the heart – even if undead — just seems a little harsh. So you head to your nearest farmers’ market and load up on garlic.

Why the bulbous plant is believed to ward off vampires has been subject to debate ever since Bram Stoker described a character wearing a garlic necklace in his novel “Dracula.”

One theory asserts that garlic was long thought to be a natural antibiotic that helped eliminate infections. And since vampires are created by infections, garlic would “cure” vampires of their undeadness, leaving them eternally . . . dead.

Another theory ties the garlic solution to rabies: In 1998, Spanish neurologist Juan Gomez-Alonso suggested the folklore of vampires was inspired by a rabies outbreak that occurred in Hungary during the 1720s. People infected with rabies were said to display a hypersensitive response to olfactory stimulation (a.k.a., “smelly things”), and garlic, well — it stinks.

While you can’t count on garlic fending off monsters, we can guarantee that it will spice up your spaghetti. And what better way to welcome a new neighbor than invite him over for a home-cooked meal.

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Oh, yeah – did we mention that garlic is in season all year long? Find plenty of it at your local farmers market.

]]>Going nuts over fruit year-roundhttp://slocountyfarmers.org/going-nuts-over-fruit-year-round/
Mon, 19 Sep 2016 21:17:40 +0000http://slocountyfarmers.org/?p=21652Sometimes it’s really hard to say goodbye to the fruits you love. Alas, seasons change, and to every fruit there is a season. But, thanks to Avila & Sons, summer favorites, like peaches and nectarines, have an extended lifespan.

“When we don’t have fresh stuff, we have dried stuff,” said Cynthia Zacharias (pictured above, right), who was recently tending to the Avila & Sons booth at a farmers’ market in Arroyo Grande.

Dried fruit is made by taking most of the original water out of fruit. That practice, which dates back thousands of years, allows fruits to retain most of their nutritional value while extending their shelf life. While some worry about the sugar content of dried fruit, it’s actually a healthy option, with lots of antioxidants and fiber, according to this Time magazine piece.

Avila & Sons offers a bevy of dried fruit, including apples, apricots, nectarines, peaches and pears. (Prunes and black figs are most popular among the dried fruits, Zacharias said.)

The fourth generation farmers from Hanford also offer a variety of nuts, including pistachios, raw walnuts, roasted corn nuts and garlic roasted peanuts. And if that wasn’t enough, they also offer an array of nut butters, including almond butter, pecan butter and walnut butter.

As the holidays near, they will offer nice packages of nut gift boxes. Last year, those gift boxes started out around $19.

]]>From the plant to the jar — behind the popular Mama’s Preserves with Arroyo Grande farmer Lori Healhttp://slocountyfarmers.org/from-the-plant-to-the-jar-behind-the-popular-mamas-preserves-with-arroyo-grande-farmer-lori-heal/
Wed, 14 Sep 2016 17:12:50 +0000http://slocountyfarmers.org/?p=21642It’s only September, but Lori Heal is already thinking of a new jam she can create for Christmas.

She has farmed berries in Arroyo Grande for three decades. And as her operation grew, so too did the amount of berries she produced.

“I started to have extra fruit, and I thought, ‘Hmmm — what could I do with this?'”

Mama’s Preserves currently offers 22 varieties of jams, all made from the crops grown at 2 Peas in a Pod — the farm Heal operates with her husband and two of her sons. Heal sells the preserves at farmers’ markets locally and as far away as Hollywood and Santa Monica. While customers might use the preserves on toast or in yogurt, chefs have used them in glazes for meat.

Some of the flavor ideas have come from customers.

“They get such a kick out of it when I have a new flavor, and it was their idea,” Heal said.

Farming has been a part of Heal’s family at least since her great-grandfather, she said. The family originally farmed in Cayucos, but eventually the farm moved to Arroyo Grande, where Heal’s father operates a 720-acre cattle ranch. Most of 2 Peas in a Pod is located on a roughly 20-acre patch there, though there is also a small berry forest at the Heal house nearby.

The farm includes berries, baby corn, brussels sprouts and the latest edition, hops.

Summer is a time for picking berries, while the fall and winter entail pruning plants by hand. Meanwhile, Heal spends considerable time picking, making jams and working farmers’ markets. While she loves farming, her work can entail long hours — for the Santa Monica market, she has to leave as early as 3 a.m.

“Farming for us is 24/7,” Heal said.

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Find Heal’s berries, preserves and more at the Downtown SLO Farmers’ Market, a member of the SLO County Farmers’ Market Association, Thursdays, beginning at 6:10 p.m.

]]>Let’s hear it for watermelons — using sound to pick a winnerhttp://slocountyfarmers.org/lets-hear-it-for-watermelons-using-sound-to-pick-a-winner/
Wed, 07 Sep 2016 22:15:08 +0000http://slocountyfarmers.org/?p=21625Standing behind a table crowded with watermelons, John Lahargou beats on several of the rinds as if they were bongos. After tapping one with a slightly higher-pitched sound — offering less bass than the other melons — he stops, nods and concludes, “That’s on the greener side.”

If you search the Internet for advice on picking the best watermelon, you’ll find plenty of tips, including (but not limited to): sniff it, shake it, squeeze it, lift it, turn it. But Lahargou is drawn to the beat of his melons.

“Every day I’m picking watermelons, and I do it by sound,” says Lahargou (pictured above, demonstrating the technique).

Before each melon is picked, he says, he drums on it — not with a fist or a knuckle, but with the underside of his extended fingers. (Again, think bongo player.)

“You wanna hear what’s inside,” he explains. “The vibration.”

During a recent farmers’ market in Arroyo Grande, multiple people tapped on his watermelons — a regular occurrence at his booth. One amateur melon tapper said the sound of a good melon compares to the sound of tapping a basketball.

That’s probably not a bad approach, Lahargou says later, though he’s not ready to say it’s the end-all technique.

“I’ve opened thousands of these, trying to figure it out,” he says.

While using sound to choose the right melon is not a perfect science, Lahargou is uniquely qualified to judge a melon by its cover.

Lahargou has plenty of watermelons this time of year.

“The duller the sound,” he tells one customer, “the riper they are.”

Lahargou’s watermelons are not only ripe — they offer lots of flavor. That’s because he doesn’t irrigate them, he explains.

“I never water ’em,” he says. “All natural.”

At the Arroyo Grande farmers’ market, several passersby take samples. A few stop. One woman, after choosing the watermelon of her liking, tucks it under an arm and asks, “What if it’s not good?”

“I dunno,” Lahargou says, unshaken by the challenge. Then, with a dry sense of humor, he adds: “Throw it at your neighbor’s house.”

]]>With Autumn approaching, you’ll fall for butternut apple souphttp://slocountyfarmers.org/with-autumn-approaching-youll-fall-for-butternut-apple-soup/
Tue, 30 Aug 2016 22:21:52 +0000http://slocountyfarmers.org/?p=21615While John Chapman is perhaps the best known ambassador of the apple — a folk hero with an eye for orchards — the fruits that Johnny “Appleseed” brought to the frontier at that time weren’t usually grown for eating or baking pies. In fact, they were called “spitters,” because that was usually what someone would do if they ate one of Johnny’s apples.

Johnny Appleseed’s apples typically were used to make hard cider – or booze, which might give his folk status a bit of an edge.

While alcoholic cider has made a big comeback in recent years, there are, of course, many other uses for the apple. (And if you need a list, Food Network lays out 50 examples here.) But Stephanie Nye (formerly Burchiel), a farmers’ market favorite, has a unique soup that uses apples as an ingredient. With September now upon us, we figure this is a good time to dig into fall recipes, and butternut apple soup is the first mentioned in Nye’s book, Central Coast Farmers Market Soups. While fall is the best time for a variety of apples, Nye (pictured above, far right) recommends Granny Smith, Fuji and Gala apples for this one, along with a choice of squash.

“Each year, I see new varieties of hard shell squashes in the markets, each a little different in flavor and texture but all with the ability to create an aroma in the oven that announces the fall harvest is upon us,” she writes.

Farmers’ market squashes — be they butternut, pumpkins or kabochas — are best, she writes, because they are so fresh. Here’s the recipe:

]]>Juicing on the Mendhttp://slocountyfarmers.org/juicing-on-the-mend/
Mon, 01 Aug 2016 19:18:36 +0000http://slocountyfarmers.org/?p=21569Fifteen minutes before the farmers’ market begins in downtown San Luis Obispo, passersby are already asking Julia Gomez for samples — and she’s not even finished setting up her booth. It shouldn’t be a surprise, though: Her containers full of colorful juices, stacked on ice, represent a refreshing treat on a warm day.

But they’re not just refreshing — these raw, cold-pressed juices provide the body with instant nutrition, the juices packed with fruits and vegetables.

Her business, Julia’s Juices, began — you might say — by pure accident. Gomez’s husband, Javier Magana, was sidelined from his job as a restaurant cook after a car collision. As he was mending, he began planting a garden containing a variety of produce, including kale, celery, beets, tomatoes, cilantro and blueberries. To help her injured husband mend heal, Gomez started juicing the items from the garden. The idea worked, and soon the couple started both Julia’s Juices and Red Barn Farms.

Using local fruits and vegetables, Gomez, a former Tribune press worker, constantly tries different combinations. Her juicing process — crushing the fruits and veggies instead of using blades or graters, then pressing the crushed product — ensures that the nutrients remain in the juices. To ensure the juices are fresh, the produce is picked the day before juicing, which happens the day of each farmers’ market.

Some of Julia’s favorites include the 3 Berry Kale smoothie, Tropic Kale, Gingy Beet and Veggie Blast. Most of her juices and smoothies focus on kale, which she calls a “superfood.” Known for its health benefits, kale was recently featured in a healthy eating contest.

]]>What Is Cooking From Scratch?http://slocountyfarmers.org/what-is-cooking-from-scratch/
Fri, 22 Jul 2016 19:00:44 +0000http://slocountyfarmers.org/?p=21579Good Tides Organic Bistro is so serious about making food from scratch, even their ketchup is made from scratch.

Now that’s some serious scratch.

But what does “cooking from scratch” even mean?

By most accounts, the term originated with sporting events. Some say it dates to competitive races in the 1800s, referring to a starting point, which was scratched into the ground. In cooking, making things from scratch suggests things are made with only the basic ingredients and nothing that has been prepared ahead or processed. So instead of using a boxed mixture, someone baking cookies will start from the beginning with flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda and baking powder.

There are many benefits to making food from scratch. For one thing, the food is healthier because it doesn’t include chemicals, preservatives, additives or other unknown ingredients. By using seasonal fruits and vegetables, chefs often use produce from local farmers’ markets. And many say food from scratch simply tastes better with more basic ingredients.

Because Good Tides chef Alyx Gille knows every ingredient in her food, she can help customers with allergies know what dishes to avoid.

Adding to the knowledge, all of the produce in Good Tides food is locally grown and organic. Meanwhile, eggs come from Cal Poly, grass-fed beef comes from Hearst Ranch and chicken comes from Mary’s Free-Range Organic Chicken.

At a recent farmers’ market in Morro Bay, assistant Allison Harris (pictured above) sold a variety of goodies made from scratch, including brownies, oatmeal coconut cookies, fresh peach muffins, and peach tarts with blackberries.